The Petticoat Bridge marker commemorates fighting along Assiscunk Creek in Burlington County during the dark closing weeks of 1776. The historic bridge and road alignment have changed, and accounts differ over whether the principal clash occurred on December 21 or 22. The marker should therefore be read as identifying the skirmish area rather than fixing every movement at the modern roadside point.

After defeating Washington’s army around New York, British and Hessian troops crossed New Jersey and drove the Americans behind the Delaware River. Hessian Colonel Carl von Donop occupied the Bordentown–Mount Holly region with troops intended to suppress militia, protect communications, and support the garrison at Trenton. American leaders needed to prevent these forces from concentrating against Washington’s battered army.

Colonel Samuel Griffin moved into southern New Jersey with a mixed detachment that included Virginia Continentals, Pennsylvania troops, and local militia. Reports of his strength varied and were often exaggerated. From positions near Mount Holly, Griffin’s men threatened Hessian outposts and encouraged Patriot activity. Around Petticoat Bridge, they attacked or drove back an advanced guard and fought for control of the crossing and nearby high ground. The action continued as von Donop brought a stronger force south from Bordentown.

Griffin could not defeat the Hessian column in a stand-up battle. His troops withdrew toward Mount Holly, where further fighting—often called the Battle of Iron Works Hill—occurred on December 23. Von Donop occupied Mount Holly and remained away from Bordentown during the critical period before Washington’s attack on Trenton. Later tradition sometimes claimed that local women deliberately distracted the Hessians in Mount Holly. That story is difficult to verify, but the military consequence is clear: von Donop’s command was several miles south when Washington crossed the Delaware on Christmas night.

The diversion did not cause the victory at Trenton by itself. Weather, surprise, Washington’s planning, and the isolation of Colonel Johann Rall’s garrison were decisive. Nevertheless, Griffin’s activity complicated Hessian dispositions and helped keep a substantial body of enemy troops from immediately supporting Trenton. The skirmish also demonstrated that organized resistance remained active in New Jersey despite the apparent collapse of the American cause.

Petticoat Bridge is thus best understood as part of the Trenton campaign rather than an isolated encounter. Men fought here over a small crossing, but their movements influenced where larger enemy units spent the days before December 26. The marker preserves a local episode in the chain of diversions, marches, and decisions that allowed Washington’s army to regain the initiative and transform the morale of the Revolution.